Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): A conman, who defrauded people of crores of rupees under the guise of exorcising evil spirits and resolving family conflicts in Jabalpur, has been arrested on Sunday. The conman had a reward of ₹5,000 on his head, and was caught while secretly visiting his family.
According to information, the accused Arun Dubey and his younger brother, Varun Dubey allegedly used to visit people's homes and perform religious rituals. They would scare families by claiming the presence of evil spirits or Vastu (architectural) defects and extort huge sums of money from them and then disappear.
Complaints have been registered against three people, Arun Dubey, his younger brother Varun Dubey and his accomplice Sachin Upadhyay, in several police stations, including Gora Bazar, Cantt, and Gohalpur.
Crime came to light in 2021
Cantt Police Station In-charge, Rajneesh Mishra, said that on July 2, 2023, Sikandar Kanaujiya, a resident of Bharat Mata Chowk, lodged a complaint. Sikandar stated that Arun Dubey and his associates conducted rituals at his house, claiming to ward off evil spirits, and managed to extort ₹14 lakh from him. When the problems persisted, Sikandar became suspicious and investigated further, discovering that the group had duped over two dozen people, collecting crores.
During police questioning, Arun Dubey admitted that they had also targeted several businessmen and even police officers, defrauding them in similar ways.
Accused learned astrology 17 years ago
Arun Dubey (42), is educated up to the 10th grade. Seventeen years ago, he learned astrology and initially sold gemstones based on people's zodiac signs. Later, he began scaring people with tales of evil spirits, eventually targeting wealthy individuals, including doctors, engineers, and even police officers.
The gang's operations spread beyond Madhya Pradesh to states like Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. Their scam first came to light in 2021 when a local resident, Vijendra, filed a complaint, revealing that they had extorted ₹1 crore from his family and even built a house, claiming it was meant to trap the evil spirits.
The police arrested Arun Dubey at Garha Phatak and will produce him before court today. Meanwhile, Gora Bazar and Gohalpur police stations are also seeking his remand for further questioning. The police are actively searching for Arun's brother, Varun Dubey, who remains at large.
